Adelphos

With three cards available to apply to, and one additional card available for upgrade, I figure we could use a dedicated thread for this.

I am under Chase 5/24 soon, and plan to apply for a Marriott card. I also currently hold the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card.

Currently, the no-fee Chase Bold card offers a 100K sign up bonus, and the $95 fee Chase Boundless card offers a $125K sign up bonus. I see little difference between them, and I would continue to put my Marriott spend on Amex, so I the card choice itself doesn't mean much to me. I am wondering, though, how Chase treats upgrades and the free Marriott night the cardholder is supposed to earn after renewal. The question is:

Once your card anniversary hits and you upgrade a Chase Marriott card, do you get the Marriott certificate of the card you had or the card you upgrade to?

I plan to upgrade my Chase Marriott card to the Ritz in 2024. If you get the free night of the card you upgrade to, I may go ahead and just get the Bold. If it is based on the card you held at anniversary, I would likely get the Boundless to at least get a 35K cert.

Any history on this? I feel like this and similar questions will be asked more given all of the available cards nowadays

eponymous_coward

It's going to matter a lot if you continue to hold the Brilliant card. You are ineligible to get the SUB for the Bountiful while still holding a Brilliant.

https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-card-eligible/

(Basically you should be following the FM chart if you're questing for an RC card.)

https://creditcards.chase.com/travel...nvoy/bountiful

(open the offer and you'll see)

Contrast with the Boundless:

https://secure05ea.chase.com/web/oao/application/card

Basically the optimal path to an RC card starting from zero Chase while holding a Brilliant is via the Boundless. (You can't downgrade to the $95 AMEX, but you could cancel it or downgrade to a Bevy... though I am not sure why you'd do that unless you were funneling a ton of Marriott stays through your card.)

Adelphos

It's so confusing with all of the Bs

I was focusing on the no-fee Bold, not the mid-range Bountiful.

I believe I can get both
1) A Bold or Bountiful sign-up bonus
2) And an AMEX Bevy bonus

If I apply for the Amex and Chase cards at the same time, but no one has tested that - I will next month.

After that I am basically done with Marriott sign up bonuses, so that's not really my concern. My bigger concern (as I voiced in the OP) is how the annual free nights are impacted by upgrading and downgrading

ElevatorEnthusiast

My understanding is that you can't upgrade the Bold to the Ritz card.

gudugan

IMO this fits under Chase Marriott Bonvoy Cards, 2019 to present which is confusingly in the Chase forum while the Amex cards are in the Marriott forum.

This post may be helpful: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35317652-post558.html

Thanks for trying out the multi signup bonus.

Why are you interested in the Bevy? IMO the card is worthless outside of SUB I guess...

gudugan

from ritz wiki https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35290201-post543.html

ElevatorEnthusiast

Ah, I had not seen that thread - assumed it would not be a 3-day timer for the mid-step.

pentiumvi

The relationship between Chase and AMEX for these Bonvoy cards sure is confusing.

Wanted to clarify one thing.... based on the chart link above, if one was to downgrade an AMEX to the $95 Bonvoy card, that would effectively lock them out of ALL the Chase card SUBs?

gudugan

Yup, that's right.

I found something interesting, the Chase Bountiful isn't even listed on the Marriott site https://www.marriott.com/credit-cards.mi, only the Bevy.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I've had the Brilliant for years and just got the Boundless so I can have a Visa card that I want to use besides my WOH card. The SUB and 35K annual cert made it a no brainer for $95. I'm still considering getting the Bountiful next year as I could use it for my Marriott stays, hit the 15K for the 50K cert, and get an extra 1K for each of my 100+ 1-night stays. It would also work as a 4X card for international dining that needs Visa. Then, I could upgrade my Boundless to a RC card after a year to get another 85K.

SpammersAreScum

I hold the low-end Amex card. If I understand correctly, I cannot get a SUB for the Chase Bold or Boundless, but I can still get the card. Yes?

Never mind, I see examples of people here doing just that. D'oh.

Boraxo

This is great news! I thought I had to dump all my Amex Marriott cards before applying for any of the Chase Marriott cards. But apparently not...

And I trust this holds true for current Bevy cardholders as well as Brilliant? (Ack, never mind, P2 received an Upgrade Bonus for that one a few months ago...)

Does the clock start on the 24-month rule from the date of the card approval or the date on which the SUB posted??

Adelphos

I still don't think I have seen an answer to this question:

For the Chase Boundless card, you can get a free night certificate after the 1 year anniversary of holding the card. If you immediately upgrade to the Ritz at the 1 year anniversary, do you get a 35K cert or an 85K certificate?

SanDiego1K

I downgraded and still got my 85K certificate. Thus, I would expect the reverse would be true and you would get the 35K cert.

Adelphos

Hmm. So I have to wait until 2025 to get an 85K cert if I apply for Boundless than upgrade to Ritz (and pay a $95 fee this year, a $450 fee in 2024 and a $450 fee in 2025)? Is it really worth it 🤔